How Culinary Class Wars Has the Best Judging Method for Cooking Shows, Explored

Culinary class wars is at the top of Netflix’s global charts, with views surpassing 3 million! This is no ordinary show; Perhaps it’s every culinary competition enthusiast’s dream series.

While the highlight is producing impeccable dishes worthy of being served in a high-end restaurant, the show also focuses deeply on the difference in skill between The White Spoon Chefs and The Black Spoon Chefs.

The series features several renowned South Korean culinary bigwigs who are staking their reputations to participate in Culinary class wars. From Michelin star owners to Iron Chef winners – it’s the creme de la creme under one roof against gastronomy’s next prodigies.

In addition to good old kitchen rivalry and small fights and disagreements, viewers are impressed by the judging! A forum on Reddit discusses a number of reasons that define Culinary class wars as well as other cooking reality shows!

Disclaimer: This article is based solely on the opinion of the author. Reader discretion is advised.


Why Culinary class wars has judgment methods worthy of praise

1) The judges are blindfolded

Culinary class war judges blindfolded | Image source: NetflixCulinary class war judges blindfolded | Image source: Netflix
Culinary class war judges blindfolded | Image source: Netflix

Blindfolding judges isn’t exactly new to cooking shows – it’s been happening since the beginning of Master Chef. However, the ordeal is a very rare occasion, something Culinary class wars normalized.

At the beginning of the show, the host, Baek or Chef Baek Jong-Won (also a judge), clarifies that he and Chef Ahn Sung-Jae will be completely blindfolded during the tasting.

This leaves no room for visual judgment of the food. The judge will heighten your senses to the textures and flavors of the dish you are enjoying. The judge would be able to better differentiate between sweet, spicy, salty, umami, sour and bitter flavors and understand the amalgamation of flavors.

2) The identity of the contestants is hidden

A photo of the Culinary Class Wars contestants | Image source: NetflixA photo of the Culinary Class Wars contestants | Image source: Netflix
A photo of the Culinary Class Wars contestants | Image source: Netflix

Another bomb in Culinary class wars is the hidden identity of The White Spoons and The Black Spoons. This means that even though the judges were not blindfolded, they knew nothing about the chef who prepared the meal.

This criteria eliminates potential bias, especially since some Black Spoon chefs have worked with one or both of the judges.

Likewise, for the impressive White Spoons, there is no room for favoritism either at the beginning of the competition or later. The criticism would depend entirely on whether the food judges were eating or not. It is nothing short of divine criticism, raw and unfiltered.

3) Voting results are announced together instead of individually

Voting is a major criterion in judging a competition to decide who advances and who doesn’t. In Culinary class warsThe voting scheme is quite unorthodox – rather than being selected and critiqued individually, the judges reveal a final review at the cook’s end.

Chefs Jong-Won and Jung-Sae are judges on the series because they can remember dishes, flavors and cuisine while tasting almost 100 dishes and making impartial judgments.

4) Dishes are served in an amuse-bouche format

A still from Culinary Class Wars | Image source: NetflixA still from Culinary Class Wars | Image source: Netflix
A still from Culinary Class Wars | Image source: Netflix

The way you prepare food says a lot about the type of chef you are – at least that’s what many cooking shows follow. However, in Culinary class wars, Instead of serving multiple dishes, focusing on a clean plate and a visually stunning presentation – the entire dish needs to be fun or minimalist.

This means that a single bite needs to have everything encapsulating the textures and flavors of the dish. This encourages creativity and perfects them to pack flavors into small bites – turning them into flavor bombs. Furthermore, this judging method minimizes food waste.

5) Contestants are judged solely on the taste of their food

A still from Culinary Class Wars | Image source: NetflixA still from Culinary Class Wars | Image source: Netflix
A still from Culinary Class Wars | Image source: Netflix

Last on the list is the spirit of any cooking show out there – the rule is no different in Culinary class wars: I like. The blindfold and small bites help to increase the judge’s ability to taste unique flavors and judge the contestant fairly.

At the beginning of episode 1, Chef Jong-Won emphasizes this phenomenon further and states that he judges a contestant solely based on taste and nothing else.

This is a big plus for both judges and chefs: judges get a feel for a chef’s technique for flavor profiling and ability to increase its depth, while chefs have the opportunity to learn it.


Culinary class wars It’s now streaming on Netflix!

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